How to Prepare for Medical Exam

Medical profession isn’t just a noble profession because the doctors become life saviours, it has more to it. It is also amongst the most honoured and safest professions to be in. This is what attracts lakhs of students to appear for medical entrance exams every year. Although the entire journey of medical preparation is quite tedious, it seems worth the effort. Being the second highest populated nation of the world, India indeed has dire need of good doctors. However, between the enlisted government and private medical colleges it offers just a few thousand seats to the medical aspirants.

Questions arise in the young budding minds about what exactly makes one journey different from the other? How to stay ahead in the game? Are there better ways to prepare? Or, How to prepare for medical entrance exams?

Before we even begin to understand the process for preparation, it is essential to understand our long term goals. Once the aim is absolutely clear, one can plan appropriately and tread the correct path. For instance, if you want to become a surgeon, you must understand what goes into becoming one. What you need to offer in terms of mental and physical effort? You need to feel absolutely prepped up to go all out. And, once you are ready, begin by understanding the “How of Preparation?”

Study Time Table for Medical Exam

One of the most significant medical preparation tips is to begin with a streamlined plan and follow a thorough timetable. Following a timetable is immensely helpful because it restricts time wastage and channelizes all efforts in the correct direction.

1. 7:00 AM-8:00 AM: Begin Your Day Early (meditate, connect with family members, have a bath and get ready for a fruitful day)

2. 8:00 AM-8:20 AM: Have a healthy breakfast (not heavy)

3. 8:20 AM-11:20 AM: Follow the study time table and prepare the assigned topic for the day.

6. 1:35 PM-2:35 PM: Give an hour to a left out portion from some previous topic/revise a previous topic/seek help from peers or experts on a specific topic

7. 2:35 PM-3:00 PM: Have lunch

8. 3:00 PM-4:00 PM: Relax/ Have an afternoon nap

9. 4:00 PM-7:00 PM: Start afresh with a glass of milk/tea/coffee/juice and prepare a new topic from another subject. Ensure that you choose Chemistry/Physics, if you had prepared Biology in the morning. A new area of study will keep you refreshed and mind will be more receptive.

10. 7:00 PM- 7:30 PM- Break for a small walk/jog in the nearby park and socialize with people

11. 7:30 PM-9:30 PM- Attempt a mock test and time your efforts/identify concerns pertaining the topics you had prepared today

Top Medical Entrance Exams Pattern

Once you have carefully thought through your plans for the future and are sure of your decision to pursue the medical dreams, go through the prominent medical exam sites to understand the colleges and courses. Identify the favourites upon careful evaluation of how pursuing a defined course from a specific college will cast an impact on your future, in any way. Thereby, prioritize the entrance exams and enlist them accordingly. Understand that your medical preparation cannot be a success, unless it has some direction.

The next step would be to understand the specific exam patterns. AIIMS and NEET are the two most renowned medical entrance exams in the country. While AIIMS exam opens doors to admission in any of the seven AIIMS situated in different states of the country, the NEET exam is followed by hundreds of medical and dental colleges across the country. Both these entrance exams witness lakhs of applicants competing for a few thousand seats in graduate/postgraduate medical or dental streams. Few other important medical entrance exams are: PGIMER, CMC Vellore PG Entrance Exam, JIPMER PG, AFMC Entrance Exam etc.

Let’s have a look at the exam pattern for some of these exams.

AIIMS: With a total of 200 multiple choice questions, the distribution is as follows

Subject

Total Questions

Physics

60

Chemistry

60

Biology

60

General Knowledge

20

Wherein, every correct answer provides +1 to the total and every wrong answer results in a -1/3 score (-1 for three wrong answers).

NEET: With a total of 180 multiple choice questions, the distribution is as follows

Subject

Total Questions

Physics

45

Chemistry

45

Biology (Botany and Zoology)

90

For each correct answer, the candidates will be awarded 4 marks; if an answer is wrong, then 1 mark will be deducted.

JIPMER MBBS

Subject

Total Questions

Physics

60

Chemistry

60

Biology (Botany and Zoology)

60

English Comprehension

10

Logic & Quantitative Reasoning

10

For each correct answer, the candidates will be awarded 4 marks; if an answer is wrong, then 1 mark will be deducted.

For further clarity on paper patterns and information on other entrance exams, refer askIITIans.

Syllabus for Medical Preparation

Essentially the syllabus for all medical entrance exams in India is pretty vast and a perfect mix of class XI and class XII syllabus for subjects: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. To distinguish within themselves, some exam conducting authorities also include English Comprehension / Logical Reasoning/General Knowledge in the paper pattern. However, the core paper comprises of questions from Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

For subjects like General Knowledge, students can keep themselves abreast with current affairs through a daily dose of news from print or digital media.

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Books for Medical Preparation

A perfect amalgamation of NCERT books and core medical preparation books, should do wonders for you. While the NCERT books set the focus right, reference books elaborate and make concepts clearer. With ample information at hand, you have all the resources to get the concepts right. You can also practice as many solved/unsolved questions, as you like

Subject Wise Preparation Tips for Medical Exams

Considering the vast syllabus, students aspiring to get through a top medical college need to begin their medical preparation at the earliest. Let’s have a look at the subject wise medical preparation tips.

Preparing for Physics

Physics involves lengthy problems and tricky concepts. Thereby, students need to have clear basics. You can never be in a position to make random attempts through superficial learning. So, practice hard and attempt lengthy problems regularly. The more mock tests you take, the better.

Never overlook your NCERT books. The books hold great significance for your class XI and XII exams. Moreover, they offer a great base by making use of simplistic language and simple problems. Once through with that, you can proceed with reference books and complex problems.

Preparing for Chemistry

If thorough with the subject, you can actually score well here. A smooth blend of chemical equations, numerical problems, and various theoretical concepts, the subject has a lot to offer. Moreover, it seems much easier as compared to Physics. Again, refer the past year papers and understand the trend. You can easily identify important chapters and the ones those are ignored every time. Make a preparation plan accordingly. Begin preparations with NCERT books.

Preparing for Biology

This one is the most significant subject when we speak of medical preparation. Encompassing Zoology and Botany, there is so much to remember here. However, it is also very interesting. You just need to identify the correct ways to memorize so much information. It can be a very interesting learning experience, where you can envisage a practical connect to human/animal and plant life. When NCERT books are coupled with good reference books, you will observe great results.

General Tips for Medical Preparation

While we have already gone through subject wise preparation tips, it is very important to be aware of certain basic things while preparation. These are the aspects that you need to be aware of at all times during this prolonged preparation journey.

While we have already gone through subject wise preparation tips, it is very important to be aware of certain basic things while preparation. These are the aspects that you need to be aware of at all times during this prolonged preparation journey.

Never underestimate the significance of revision. Do that for as many times you can. Revising your syllabus in a phase wise manner will help strengthen your concepts as you move forward. You can refer the notes shared by askIITians for quick and comprehensive revision of all topics.

Practice until You Master Something. You need to put in your soul into what you do. Practicing the numerical, theorems, graphs, can never be enough. So engage yourself in solving mock tests time to time, to ensure that you are able to time your answers well. You don’t get more than a minute per answer during the final exam, so you have to reach that stage eventually. Physics and Chemistry need a lot of practice, while Biology calls for a sharp memory. So the more you revise and practice, the clearer things will be.

Seek Guidance When It Matters: Never hesitate to ask when you are in doubt. Once you begin accumulating the doubts and queries, you tend to lose track of the topics that went by. It will become very hard to get an understanding for all of them at one go.

Assess Yourself Through Sample Papers: Get into the exam zone by creating a real time scenario as you work on Sample Papers. Time your efforts and identify the areas where you lag. Get them assessed by a teacher/coach, if you are doing them on your own. At askIITians you get to practice a lot of Sample Papers.

Understand your dreams well. It will help you in this journey to focus and march ahead with dedication

You cannot go wrong with your preparations; if you have a thorough hold on past year papers. So understand the past year paper pattern well and keep working on mock tests every day.

Take ample rest and focus on your health. Once your health is impacted, there is no way you can save wastage of time and effort

Common Mistakes to Avoid During Your Medical Preparation Journey

As you prepare for the Medical exam, there are going to be certain unsaid rules that you need to abide by:

1. Never Undermine Your Efforts and Sway from the Pre-Scheduled Timelines. Once the sway begins, it results in a mound of accumulated topics that are yet to be covered. While the time has gone. So put in sincere efforts in the allocated time per topic and whatever little gets left, complete by stretching your day a bit and revising on the buffer day.

2. Health Never Comes Second: Howsoever important the target is, ‘heath will always be the wealth’. So, keep a close eye on your mind and body, give them the required peace and rest, while you indulge in long hours of studies. Keep a balance with light exercises and meditation.

3. Subjects Don’t Substitute for Each Other: There are instances when NEET applicants are observed to focus on the subject of their choice, while ignoring the other one. They believe in scoring well in one, instead of putting in efforts to understand the other. Never do that! All three subjects hold their due significance and you need to work on all topics with equal dedication. The best you can do is to prioritise topics basis past year exam trends.

4. Refer the Best Study Material: A mound of stocked up reference books and notes wouldn’t help much. What will actually help is the quality of the notes and the reference books. So chose few wisely and refer them to practice as many problems that you can. NCERT should be the first step always!

When to Start Preparing for Medical Exams

Since the applicants need to prepare a vast syllabus for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology from both class XI and XII, it tends to be huge. As a consequence, it tends to get more and more difficult with every passing day. Students should actually plan well and spread out the big chunk in comfortable bites. Thereby, beginning the preparation as early as you start your class XI, is the most preferred way.

Complete two year period for preparation seems to be a good choice

You get to have ample time to learn new concepts and practice them

There is always enough time to revise and practice

You can prepare at a comfortable pace and there is no rush or urgency at any time

Where to Start Preparing for Medical Exams

Your medical preparation journey will demand a lot of input and effort from your end. While some students prefer preparing by themselves, many others look out for good coaching centers. It’s a tough choice to make and no means is perfect, but a good combination of both can indeed work wonders.

What you miss out in self-preparation is timely guidance and expert opinion. Once you get stuck on something, you have no help. You also might miss out on the changes in the paper pattern, past year paper analysis, or simply fail to cover the entire syllabus. However, coaching centers give you a breather there. With expert tutors on their panel they work on scheduled planner. They will not only take you through the entire courses strategically, they will also ensure that you have no unanswered queries.

Medical coaching can be availed either through the age old offline mode or through the new age online mode. You just need to understand the pros and cons of both and make a wise choice. Look out for the best medical entrance coaching centers.

Conclusion

Begin your medical preparation with absolute clarity and a lot of confidence. With new age online coaching at your doorstep, you have immense help at hand. Prepare comfortably from the comfort of your home and keep entire focus on your studies. Reference material, notes, live online sessions, and regular test series, you have the correct direction and the means to succeed.